Valentino Rossi: “I Don’t Have a Good Feeling”

Movistar Yamaha’s crown jewel Valentino Rossi isn’t feeling the best in regards to his 2017 bike. Can he shake the bad vibes before the season?

Rossi has had a bit of a tumultuous going-on at testing so far during the MotoGP pre-season. He’s endured a spill out on the track already, and his lap ratings have been sporadic at best. But now, at the Phillips Island test in Australia, he’s looking to put the negative behind him and work towards a target:

“I don’t have a good feeling with the bike and every time I try to push I don’t feel well. In the braking we check the data and the team work well. “We improve the bike and this afternoon I was more competitive. At the end with the new tire I did a good lap. Second is OK. A 1m 29.6 for the first day is already not so bad.”

– Valentino Rossi

Although Rossi laments that he’s not feeling comfortable enough to push the bike past its limits as much as he’d like to, he does have a point – second place in the tests so far isn’t that bad. But it is behind his target: Marquez.

“Marquez was the faster. He was the faster in Valencia, he was the faster in Malaysia, and was the faster today.”

– Valentino Rossi

The fight for the title is already shaping up to be something spectacular. With the times being put out thus far, we’ve got a nice little triangle of rivalry forming between Marc Marquez, Maverick Vinales, and Valentino Rossi. With time still yet to go before the beginning of the season, all riders are sure to be doing all they can to squeeze the most potential out of their bikes before they hit the grid in Qatar.

Nikola is a carbon-based life-form residing on Earth dimension C-137. Lover of all things fast and furious. When he's not tapping away at a keyboard, he can be found aimlessly drifting in cyberspace, looking for signs of intelligent life.